The Police at the Maroko division, Lekki, of the Lagos State Police Command, Lagos have arrested a businesswoman, Vivian Nwachukwu, 34, and charged her before a Lagos Magistrates’ court for allegedly slapping a police officer, Inspector Yekini Momodu and pushing him down during an altercation.

Police said that the defendant also slapped one Mufutau Ayodele on his cheek and gave him a fist blow on his mouth which caused him harm with blood gushing out.

Police alleged that the defendant also damaged Ayodele’s Infinix Hot 12 Promax phone valued at N100,000.

Police further alleged that while the incident was going on, concerned residents in the area quickly sent a distress call to the Division Police Officer, DPO in charge of Maroko Division, Lekki, who swiftly dispatched his men to the scene to arrest the defendant and restore order.

After an investigation by Inspector Elizabeth Ekanem, the defendant was charged before the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court sitting at the Ebute Metta Magistrates’ Court, Lagos on a four-count charge bordering on assault occasioning harm and malicious damage.

Police prosecuting counsel, ASP Isaac Ameru, told the court in the charge marked T/17/2024 that the defendant and one other still at large committed the offence on 14 April 2024 at 5 Dideolu Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Ameru told the court that the defendant and one other took the law into their own hands and allegedly slapped a police officer and another complainant and inflicted injury on them for unjustifiable reasons.

He said the offences committed were punishable under Sections 411, 134, 173 and 350 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and Magistrate Emeka Opara granted her N50,000 bail with one surety in like sum.

Opara adjourned the case till 10 May 2024 for mention and ordered that the defendant be detained at Kirikiri Correctional Facility till she perfected the bail.

The Enugu State police command says its operatives have rescued a pregnant woman from kidnappers’ captivity.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victim, Chinwendu Igwe, was kidnapped at about 9:45 a.m. on 22 April along Eke-Egede Road in Udi Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson said a preliminary investigation into the incident showed that the pregnant woman was on a journey by road with two of her children from Lagos to her paternal home in Egede, Udi LGA, without assistance despite knowing that she was within her expected period of delivery.

“She got to Ninth Mile around 9 p.m., lacking a convenient means of conveyance, she boarded a commercial motorcycle, with the motorcyclist electing to transport her and her two children due to her state of pregnancy.

“However, while on their way, the abductors attacked them, beat up the motorcyclist, and abducted the woman into the forest, leaving the rider and the children behind, before a team of police operatives from the Ezinze Police Division of the Command that responded upon intercepting information on the incident, could get to the scene,” he said.

Ndukwe said the pregnant woman was later rescued on 23 April by police operatives.

He said the police conducted the rescue operation in collaboration with Neighbourhood Watch Group and Forest Guards following a tip-

The police spokesperson said two male suspects connected to the woman’s kidnap had been arrested.

He said police authorities in the state had decided to withhold the identities of the arrested suspects for “investigation reasons.”

However, the husband of the pregnant woman, Ekene Igwe, was quoted as saying that he paid N1.6 million as ransom to the kidnappers before his wife and newborn were released by the hoodlums.

But the police spokesperson described the report as “total misinformation.”

He also refuted a report that the woman was on her way to the hospital for delivery when she was attacked and that the motorcyclist rescued the woman’s two children after the kidnap.

Ndukwe said the pregnant woman, who was already in her expected period of delivery at the point of the kidnap, was taken to a hospital shortly after her rescue.

He said the woman later successfully delivered a male child at the hospital.

The police spokesperson said the Enugu State Government has undertaken to foot the medical bills of the mother and newborn.

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered a manhunt of other fleeing members of the kidnapping gang, Mr Ndukwe said.

The police commissioner, however, expressed disappointment that the pregnant woman had to embark on such a long-distance journey by road unaided and at such a late hour.

He urged residents of the state to exercise discretion and caution in such circumstances.

The goals of Correctional centres, otherwise known as Prison , are to strike a balance between punishment, rehabilitation and public safety while preparing inmates for a productive life after release.

But in Nigeria , these goals may have suffered severe set back as most inmates rather than being transformed into a better version of themselves, return back to the society hardened than they were before going to jail.

This was the case of a suspected leader of a kidnap gang arrested by the Rivers State Police Command under the watch of CP Olatunji Disu.

The suspect, Gift Ogbo (39), who is receiving treatment in the hospital, from injuries sustained during a botched kidnap operation , disclosed that he formed his gang while serving his 11 years jail term for a murder case.

Ogbo, who said he had never been to a classroom since birth, recalled how he roamed his village in Ndele, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, during school hours, searching for opportunities to pilfer.

Due to his alleged villainous disposition, he was nick named ‘Akwa Ndele’, with parts of his body designed with bold scars.

Arrest

It was gathered that on March 29, 2024, Ogbo, led three members of his gang on a kidnap mission, in their operational tricycle, on Nkpolu road.

They reportedly intercepted a white Mercedes-Benz ML 350 4matic , parked on the road, with two occupants in the driver and passenger seats.

But in an act of rare bravery, the driver of the Mercedes who attempted to reverse and escape, hit a wall .
He reportedly drove menacingly towards two suspected members of the gang that stood in front of the car ,and ran over them.

The two suspects were Ogbo and another member, identified simply as Oyi-Baba, who were the gang’s muscle men. They were abandoned at the scene by their fleeing colleagues.

A mob was said to have descended on them and was at the verge of setting them ablaze when a Rapid Response Team that was contacted arrived the scene.

While Oyi-Baba reportedly died in the hospital, Ogbo , is still undergoing treatment, according to Police sources.

Prison gang

From the hospital bed, Ogbo, said, “ In 2012, I attacked one of my uncles during an argument over a parcel of land and he died in the process. I was arrested and charged for murder. While serving my 11 years hail term, I made friends with some inmates.

“Upon my release in December 2023, I returned to Ndele and rallied two old friends, Gift Kpanuku, aka Oyi-Baba and one Sunny, aka Onye-meme.

”We teamed up with two released members of the gang I formed in prison: Isaac and Ugo and immediately devised a plan to start a kidnap-for-ransom gang.

“ We stole from residents of Ndele to raise money for arms. We raised 370,000 and used it to purchase two locally made shot guns in Akwa-Ibom from Smart, a gunrunner I also met in prison.

Operations

“We went on the first mission on March 13, 2024, at about 8.45 p.m. We snatched a red Mazda 323 from a local taxi driver to use as operational vehicle. On that same evening, we met a man and his wife who parked their car in front of a doctor’s office at Nkpolu. We ordered them out of their Volkswagen Touareg, pushed them into the back seat of the car and drove off with them, abandoning the stolen Mazda.

“ But on the way to our hideout, there was traffic .While contemplating an alternative route, the woman jumped out of the car. In anger, I shot her husband in both thighs, and we sped off.
We took him to a compound in Eleme, took his gold chain, gold wristwatch , his phone and wife’s phone which she left . We used his ATM card to withdraw N530, 000.